In modern ranching, hay stacks are formed by specially designed machines which travel across the field gathering up windrows of hay and compactly packing the hay into a stack which is then discharged from the device. The resulting hay stack is an integrated structure far stronger than the old fashioned handmade hay stacks and not only serves to provide its own shelter from the elements, but also can be picked up and moved about without destroying the integrity of the stack.
Due to the efficiency of the hay stack making machine, the stems of the hay are normally unbroken and may have substantial length, and the hay as such is not as suitable for cattle feed as short cut hay, i.e., hay cut into short lengths. Due to the high cost of cattle feed such as corn, the importance of hay as fodder is rapidly increasing, and the particular hay stack disintegrating apparatus of the present invention finds it most efficient use in cattle feeding operations, particularly in conjunction with feed lot type operations.